“I have been extremely fortunate in my career to work for some excellent senior clerks. They have all had their own styles and idiosyncrasies which must in some way have molded my own brand of clerking. They all had two things in common; they needed a steady supply of hot beverages to get them through the day and they all adhered to The Rules.”

“Criminal solicitors and barristers should stand ‘shoulder to shoulder’ to oppose further fee cuts or risk ‘virtual extinction’ within five years, the new chair of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has warned.”

“Article 4(6) of Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between member states and article 18FEU meant that, although a member state might, in transposing article 4(6), decide to limit the situations in which an executing judicial authority might refuse to surrender a person who fell within the scope of that provision, it could not automatically and absolutely exclude from its scope the nationals of other member states staying or resident in its territory irrespective of their connections with it. The national court was required, taking into consideration the whole body of domestic law and applying the interpretative methods recognised by it, to interpret that law, so far as possible, in the light of the wording and the purpose of Framework Decision 2002/584, with a view to ensuring that the Framework Decision was fully effective and achieved an outcome consistent with the objective pursued by it.”

“In the last twenty years several international courts have been established to try crimes committed in armed conflicts. Public expectation of what these courts may achieve is high; but are the courts living up to that expectation? Is the public expectation realistic and part of a liberal tradition; may it be seen as ‘judicial romantic’, according to courts capabilities they can never have? Are the courts always bound to be tainted by political influence that makes it probable they will ultimately fail? What sense can be made of the permanent International Criminal Court – the ICC – when Russia, China and the USA decline to accept its jurisdiction for their own citizens but can, as permanent members of the Security Council of the UN, refer individuals from other non-member states to the ICC for trial? And would it matter if the ICC failed? Has enough already been done to chart a way ahead that will allow the law a proper role in the service of countries, or communities in countries, at war? In any event, are war crimes trials the best partner of politics in the search for peace? Are there times when it may be better to let history go in the interests of a better safer future? This is a part of Sir Geoffrey Nice’s 2012/13 series of lectures as Gresham Professor of Law.”

“Speaking about the report published today by the Hillsborough Independent Panel, Attorney General Dominic Grieve said: ‘I have not yet had an opportunity to study the Panel’s report, but it is clear that they have documented significant issues over the original inquest. I will now consider whether there is sufficient evidence to support an application to the High Court to quash the original inquest and start a new inquest process.’ ”

“The Ministry of Justice has published its annual report to the Joint Committee on Human Rights on the Government response to human rights judgments 2011–12. By signing up to the European Convention on Human Rights, the UK has committed to ‘abide by’ judgments of the court. This commitment is monitored by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. The report presents a snapshot of the current state of play in relation to the European Court of Human Rights, makes for very interesting reading (trust me!). Here are some tidbits.”

“The Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) privatisation of court interpreting services became ‘fully operational before it was ready’ and was initially ‘wholly inadequate’, according to a highly critical report by the National Audit Office.”

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